Patrick Chapatte for the New York Times.
When Donald Trump won the presidential election it sent shock waves through America; reactions running the gamut, everything from outraged and appalled to jaded. And while most of the nation is still recovering, there’s been an onslaught of people who’ve stood up to express what having a goon like Trump in office means to them.
KC Orcutt of BET.com recently wrote a compelling piece explaining how to her Trump is more misogynistic than your most misogynistic rapper. Her piece begins with the story of her own sexual assault as a young girl, and how subhumans like Trump only encourages and promotes what is a serious problem in America.
Orcutt writes that rape is the most under-reported crime in the nation, and the justice system’s reaction and the leniency it has shown has only added to the problem. She mentions Brock Turner as an example and how rape culture is something that has largely been unaddressed by mainstream media.
Orcutt then goes on to describe how hip-hop culture, while far from squeaky clean, is “more progressive and forward-thinking than the very country that birthed it.” She points out how misogyny in rap is better understood when taken into context, and her hope is that it won’t be this way for long, especially with a clown like Trump in office:
The words “I treated her like a b***h” coming out of Trump’s mouth paint a very different picture than Future and Drake singing, “I got some down b*****s I can call” on Lil Wayne‘s track “B*****s Love Me.” In a similar vein, Trump allegedly saying the N-word on the set of Celebrity Apprentice is very different from any rapper of color using the same vernacular. It all comes down to context, implied meaning and the speaker itself, and when the source of such bigotry comes from someone running for high office, the effect such shocking language has when announced to a national, and international, audience is incomprehensibly crippling.
Hip-hop culture has been very vocal in its opposition towards Trump, and hopefully with a unified effort rapers will continue to keep him accountable; perhaps galvanizing the community into eliminating misogyny and racism from the books altogether. Maybe a common enemy will help unify forces.
